tutorial

Duplicate File Handling in MusicZen

May 22, 2016 • Henry
duplicates how-to

In this post I will give a quick overview of how MusicZen handles duplicate mp3 files.

When multiple files are found with the same tag information the files are flagged as duplicates. MusicZen will then compare the bit rate, duration, and file size. The file with the highest values will be selected. If some of these properties are the same then it will compare them in order and then one file is selected.

The selection order is as follows:

  1. If the bit rate is the same, it will compare duration. The file with the longest duration will be selected.
  2. If bit rate and duration are the same, the file size is compared. The file with the biggest file size is selected.
  3. If bit rate, duration, and file size are all the same, the first file in its queue will be selected, since they are considered identical by MusicZen.

There is no complicated byte, hash, or character-level comparison here — just a simple logical comparison of these file properties.

I am considering integrating more options like the ability to select which bit rate to keep in a future version. But for now I hope this helps in knowing which file MusicZen will end up moving or copying at the end of its run.

I welcome any questions, feedback, and feature requests via the contact form.

Thank you for stopping by and for using MusicZen.